Today we’d like to introduce you to Meshai Dixon-Olivares.
Meshai, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I began a journey of holding space for others years ago as a Bonner Scholar at Berry College. I worked within the surrounding community in various capacities. As a child advocate aid in battered women’s shelter, a class room helper at the Georgia School for the Deaf, and a soup kitchen worker in a student lead community center within the Rome, Georgia area. Following graduate school, I became a victim advocate at a battered women’s shelter. It was during my time there that I began to isolate the parts of the position that resonated with my natural flow state. For me that was sitting with the women who came to our center and bearing witness to their story. I found that I wanted to contribute more than just a listening ear. It was at this time that I realized that becoming a therapist would enable me to not just bear witness, but to facilitate narrative changes and perspective shifts.
I attended Richmont Graduate University and received a master’s degree in marriage and family therapy. Throughout the duration of my degree attainment: I continued to work part time as a learning center aid for an after school program. I later worked for two years as a chiropractor’s assistant while also being a full time student.
Simultaneously, I also received full certification in trauma therapy and sex therapy. During my year long internship at Skyland Trail for my licensure hours I had the opportunity to work within their Dialectic Behavior Therapy track. All of these components helped me to become a well informed therapist and even more than that… a better human being.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, it has not been a smooth road. However, it has been a journey that has and continues to inform my capacity and range of empathy. Some of the obstacles that I have encountered along the way that have been impactful have been: processing through the grief of my father passing away, graduate school, working with my own therapist, becoming licensed, and finding my niche and personal fit in a group practice. I have embraced my hurdles because they create a deeper well from which to draw from as engage in others lived experiences. It also makes my reflective mirror as a therapist clearer for the clients I encounter. My biggest hurdle has been starting my own business. I never thought I would end up working for myself. However, this learning curve has been a good and incredibly challenging component to my life. I am growing and making difficult decisions all in the pursuit of being ethical and accessible to those in need of therapy.
Please tell us about the business.
I am a Marriage and Family therapist that specializes in sex therapy and trauma therapy. I work in a group practice in Atlanta called Active Resilience Counseling. I enjoy working in a practice and having access to colleagues that I learn from and engage with on a habitual basis. The group practice is based in the modality of Dialectic Behavioral Therapy. Hence, the group practice has DBT adherent consultation and provides internal support for the therapists working with high intensity mood disorders. I work primarily with individuals and couples. I work primarily with clients who present with a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder, life adjustments, and anxiety & depression. I also enjoy working with individuals and couples dealing with various sexual dysfunctions and affair recovery work. As a therapist I am most proud of the ability to facilitate change and provide tools that enable positive emotion regulation.
Although I truly enjoy working with individuals with mood disorders, bi-polar disorder, and borderline personality disorder. I also really thrive in therapeutic work involving those in need of sex therapy! I do not shy away from the bigger questions around sexuality and encourage my clients to challenge their perspectives and communication styles with their partners. Sexuality is like a thumb print: everyone’s is a little different and unique to that individual. Joining two individual sexuality into a mutually positive and playful experience often means creating vulnerability that is well held by both parties and feels safe. I look forward to working with couples and individuals as they embrace their journey to sexual wholeness and fun. I also work with those who have suffered from negative sexual encounters including but not limited to: sex trafficking, sexual assault, and unintended religious sexual oppression.
What sets me apart as a therapist is my love for the narrative of therapy. The joy of sitting with someone and letting them know that I am fully listening and fully engaged. In the course of daily conversations, one engages in worries around: oversharing, or that someone else will find your story not in accordance to who they think you are, or maybe your perspective on life has changed? These thoughts in the juggle and transaction of daily conversation can be laid to rest inside of my therapy sessions. To be fully known, seen, and heard while achieving your goals is truly my goal as well. The joy of being the facilitator in the client’s journey is one of my favorite parts of the art and science of therapy.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
As a child, I grew up with my family being in the military. One of the places we were stationed in was a seaside village on the east coast of England. There was a castle in the village that was on a steep hill. I loved rolling down the hills with my brother, getting full of grass stains and the thrill of going as fast as I could. That love of rolling down hills later translated to rollerblading: which I continue to do presently and with great enthusiasm.
Pricing:
- The pricing for therapy ranges from $135.00 to $150.00 per 50 minute session
Contact Info:
- Address: 535 Gresham Avenue Suite A, Atlanta, GA 30316
- Website: www.greenspacetherapy.net or on the group practice website at www.atlarc.org
- Phone: 478-215-2304
- Email: meshai.d.olivares@gmail.com
- Instagram: @meshai.d.olivares
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meshai.dixonolivares.1
Image Credit:
Ava Barnes
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